say this is a comedy of errors, without getting into it, the President believes that it is going to open
the whole Bay of Pigs thing up again. And, ah, because these people are plugging for(unintelligible) and that they should call the FBI in and (unintelligible) don't go any further into this (^)
case period! (inaudible) our cause.
It would also appear that Nixon's references to Howard Hunt and the Bay of Pigs are an oblique
allusion to the Kennedy assassination, about which Nixon may have known more than he has evertold. Later the same day Haldeman reported back to Nixon about his meeting with Walters:
H: Well, it was kind of interesting. Walters made the point and I didn't mention Hunt. I just said that
the thing was leading into directions that were going to create potential problems because they were
exploring leads that led back into areas that would be harmful to the CIA and haremful to the
government (unintelligible) didn't have anything to do unintelligible).
Later Haldeman returned to this same theme:
H: Gray called Helms and said I think we've run right into the middle of a CIA covert operation.
P: Gray said that?
H: Yeah. And (unintelligible) said nothing we've done at this point and ah (unintellibible) says well
it sure looks to me like it is (unintelligible) and ah, that was the end of that conversation
(unintelligible) the problem is it tracks back to the Bay of Pigs and it tracks back to some other the
leads run outgets to areas that are liable to be raised? The whole problem (unintelligible( Hunt. So at that point to people who had no involvement in this, except by contracts and connection, but it (^)
he kind of got the picture. He said, he said we'll be very happy to be helpful 9unintelligible) handle
anything you want. I would like to know the reason for being helpful, and I made it clear to him he
wasn't going to get explicit (unintelligible) generality, and he said fine. And Walters
(unintelligible), Walters is going to make a call to Gray. That's the way we put it and that's the wayit was left.
P: How does that work though, how they've got to (unintelligible) somebody from the Miami bank.
H: (Unintelligible) The point John makes --the Bureau is going on this because they don't know
what they are uncovering (unintelligible) continue to pursue it. They don't need to because they
already have their case as far as the charges against these men (unintelligible) One thing Helms didraise. He said. Gray--he asked Gray why they thought they had run into a CIA thing and Gray said
because of the amount of money involved, a lot of dough (unintelligible) and ah (unintelligible)
P: (Unintelligible)
H: Well, I think they will. If it runs (unintelligible) what the hell who knows (unintelligible)
contributed CIA.
H: Ya, it's money CIA gets money (unintelligible) I mean their money moves in a lot of different
ways, too. [fn 52]
Nixon's train of associations takes him from the Pennzoil-Liedtke Mosbacher-Bush slush fund
operation to Howard Hunt and the Bay of Pigs and "a lot of hanky-panky." and then back to Bus
Mosbacher, Robert's elder brother. Later on Haldeman stresses that the FBI, discovering a large
money laundering operation between Pennzoil and Bill Liedtke in Houston, Mexico City, Maurice
Stans and the CREEP in Washington, and some CIA Miami Station Cubathis was all a CIA covert operation. ns, simply concluded that
As Haldeman himself later summed it up:
If the Mexican bank connection was actually a CIA operation all along, unknown to Nixon; and
Nixon was destroyed for asking the FBI to stop investigating the bank because it might uncover a